A leaked email shows government departments had concerns about how military-style academies would uphold the rights of children.
In response to agencies’ feedback, the email shows Oranga Tamariki made several changes to a Cabinet committee paper on the proposed legislation establishing the bootcamps, including providing more details about safeguards against the use of force.
However, as decisions about the legislation are still being made, the Minister for Children Karen Chhour is unwilling to specify what those safeguards will be, but she said, “there will be a strict process for any groups that are involved in running military-style academies”.
The Government’s plan is to introduce legislation giving the Youth Court the ability to send some serious young offenders, aged between 15 and 17, to a military-style academy. This would include time in a youth justice residence.
Cabinet in June agreed the legislation would give staff – including “third-party providers” - the power to use force outside of a youth justice residence, such as while at overnight camps or rehabilitative programmes. Those powers currently only exist inside the residences.
Providers would be able to use physical force, no greater than reasonably necessary, to restrain a young person attempting to abscond or harm themselves or others.
The Herald earlier this month revealed a Cabinet committee document highlighted the risks of providing these powers, including that it may be seen as increasing the “potential risk of abuse in custody”.
The newly leaked email, obtained by the Herald, was written in October by a senior Oranga Tamariki policy adviser summarising feedback from consultation with different government departments on the proposed legislation and an associated draft paper.
A large number of agencies were consulted, including the New Zealand Defence Force, Health NZ, the Ministry of Social Development, and police.
The email said the main themes identified through the consultations included “concerns about the rights of the child, particularly how this bill relates with our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child”.
Departments also raised “safeguards for the use of force and detention powers including the need for training and a complaints process for providers and staff”, a “lack of consultation during the policy development” and the findings of the recent Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care.
That inquiry found abuse took place at previous bootcamps. The Government last week formally apologised for abuse in care and has rejected claims of similarities between the previous programmes and its proposed new academies.
The “timing of the Government’s apology to survivors of abuse in care with the introduction of the bill” did come up in the consultation. The legislation is expected to be introduced before the end of the year despite calls from some abuse survivors for the Government to abandon it.
The email shows Oranga Tamariki said it made changes to the Cabinet committee paper in response to the feedback.
This included recommending a standard six-month select committee process “given the complexity of the bill and limited opportunities to consult to date”, referencing the Royal Commission’s findings, and updating the human rights section to reflect the impact on the rights of the child and disabled young people.
It also “provided more detail of the safeguards that will be included in the regulations”.
The previously leaked paper said the safeguards wouldn’t be outlined in the legislation “due to time available”. Instead, they were to be introduced through regulations. These would be required before the bill could be brought into operation.
The Herald asked both Minister for Children Karen Chhour and Oranga Tamariki what safeguards will be introduced.
Chhour said she could not talk about decisions that have not been made yet, “but what I can say is there will be a strict process for any groups that are involved in running military-style academies”.
She said use of force powers already exist for Oranga Tamariki staff working inside youth justice residences.
“There are safeguards in place for this, which include strict policies and specialist training for staff, along with reporting and escalations processes for senior leadership visibility.”
A Oranga Tamariki spokesperson also only offered limited comment while decisions are being made. It didn’t dispute any of the information the Herald provided about the contents of the email.
“The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill has been designed to achieve public safety objectives balancing the impact on rights and supports for the safety of young people.”
Tamatha Paul, the Greens’ justice spokeswoman, said she believed the bootcamp regime had been designed to win votes and safeguards were an afterthought.
“They’ve started with an outcome, which is the bootcamps, then they’ve worked backwards,” said Paul. “That is what creates potential for harm against tamariki because their rights and their protection is not put up the front as the priority.”
She called on Chhour to front up with what safeguards will be introduced.
“If you’re proposing to use force and if you’re proposing an initiative that calls into question whether you’re honouring the rights and the protection of children, then you need to be really solid in your understanding of what those safeguards are and I haven’t heard her name one.”
Chief Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad has said there is a “wealth of evidence” bootcamp-style programmes don’t work.
After not being consulted on the proposed legislation, she wrote to Oranga Tamariki in October for information on the use of force powers. As of last week, she was awaiting a meeting with the agency and continued to have concerns.
Chhour’s defended the use of force provisions by saying they were critical to ensuring the children’s safety.
“We need to make sure that our young people are safe and we are making sure the communities are safe while they’re within this programme.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon initially said earlier this month that he would be uncomfortable with the use of force powers being provided, despite Cabinet – which he chairs - having already agreed to provide them. He later backtracked and said the powers were necessary as a last resort.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.
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